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Hudson Bay Inspired Baby Blanket

I love the simplicity of this blanket, for either a baby, throw, or a bedspread – plus it’s a super simple project for beginners. There is a great tutorial on weaving in ends on garter stitch HERE.

We recommend using a basic, superwash Peruvian wool yarn like Cascade 220 Superwash, or if you want something a bit fancier, we like the super soft, plush and machine washable, hand dyed merino Malabrigo Rios– both are available in our bricks & mortar and online store.

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Big Bad Baby Blanket

Normally I wait until projects are finished to play show-and-tell, but this one is working up so beautifully, I had to share. The pattern is my “go-to” baby blanket, the very simple Big Bad Baby Blanket from the book Stitch ‘n Bitch by Debbie Stoller, and the yarn is Koigu KPPPM in colour P112. When it comes to patterns like this, complex colourways absolutely SING! You can, of course, substitute other superwash fingering weight yarns (see below for suggestions).

Stitch ‘n Bitch has been out for quite a while. If you don’t already have it on your bookshelf but you don’t want it new, you can probably pick a used copy for a reasonable price from ABE Books, or find it at your local library (my library, the Toronto Public Libray, has it as an ebook and several hard copies).

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Easy Peasy Newborn Sock Hat

I whipped up these adorable little baby hats last week, they’re definitely very easy and kind of addictive! Of course, it doesn’t hurt that the yarn (Koigu KPPPM) is gorgeous and extremely visually satisfying. I’ve made two and I’ll cast on another tonight at SNB (I’ve got a display idea rolling around in my head and a good friend with a brand new baby).

Knit Hack: Blocking

In knitting, it ain’t over until your project is blocked. I like to wet block, which means washing your project in a no-rinse delicate wash and laying it flat to dry. Wet blocking allows the fibres in your textile to relax and take their final shape.

In the photo above, the blue hat (above) has not been blocked, and the hat below (I have no idea who to describe the colour) has been washed.

BEFORE: Before blocking the textile was firmer, it had more body and memory, the hat held it’s shape, it was able to stand up without support, and the fit was smaller. Measurements: 6.75” wide at bottom (right above brim), 5” high

AFTER: After blocking the textile became floppier, softer, but less crisp. It was no longer able to stand up without a support, and the fit was larger. Measurements: 7” wide, 6” high.

There are, of course, other ways to block a garment, but I like wet blocking because it’s honest, it gives you the most information. Your garment is most likely going to be washed at some point in its life, especially if it is a for a baby. It also settles the stitches into their final place, smoothing things out. If your wet textile is looking a little bit droopy after wet blocking you can try steaming it to add a little bit of body and plump up the fibres. A hand steamer is great, but if you are using a steam iron do not press on your textile, just hold it over and let the steam do its job.

And by the way, when you are knitting a gauge swatch to check your tension, you won’t get a truly accurate number until after your textile is blocked. Generally, it is best to block in the same manner you are also going to launder your finished garment.

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Newborn Tristan

It was so sweet, how could we resist making Tristan? Mineville Merino DK seemed like just the thing, we used colour 22 Blueberry Pie. It was a great call, the cardie came out soft and super pretty!

Notes

1. The pattern calls for 200m, so one skein should have been enough, but we used an extra 20m, so consider getting a second skein (you can make a cute matching baby hat with the extra).

2. The pattern DOES NOT include instructions for button holes. They expect you to sew on snaps and any buttons are decorative. If you want you can put a yarn-over button holes, our buttons are spaced about 12 to 14 rows apart.

3. If you want to make a larger size the pattern is available as “Tristan” up to size 12 months, but it isn’t free.

4. After Blocking our tension came out a bit looser than the pattern’s (ours is 19 sts & 27 rows = 10cm, theirs is 22 sts & 30 rows = 10cm), which means that our garment is larger than the pattern’s and isn’t really newborn size. Ours measures 23.5cm across the chest, theirs is 20cm. According the The Craft Yarn Council’s Baby Size Chart 47cm chest circumference is a bit smaller than an 18 month size.

Flax Light

Flax Light is a great FREE pattern for a yarn that has a bit of interest. The photo above is the size 6-12 months made with Cascade Heritage Wave. The is available in size newborn to adult 4XL, but we are only showing you kids sizes as a project suggestion for this yarn (it’s easy enough to get through a baby sweater with on fingering weight yarn, but an adult size project takes a bit more time).

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DMC “Top This” Hat Kits

Ok, so if you know me, you know that I like natural fibres. I’m not a snob, but I like the real thing. So if you are already familiar with the DMC ‘Top This’ kits, you’ll know it’s not really my ‘thing’. But as soon as my sales rep showed them to me I knew that a good number of you (especially those with little kids in your lives) would be TOTALLY into them. Each kit is a fun, whimsical yarn with a mixture of 3 continuous textures and colours and the most adorable coordinating stuffed animal character to top the knitted hat. The kit makes a baby or child size hat.

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Baby Sophisticate

We’ve been updating our store samples of baby sweaters, so the Baby Sophisticate was a natural addition to our collection. It’s a basic top-down knit that look great knit up in any worsted/aran weight yarn. We thought it would show off the Malabrigo Rios (we used colour 122 Niebla for this one). Overall, super happy with the outcome – our pattern notes are on Ravelry!